Ninety percent of the country’s population is excluded from the system and efforts in their interest should be made, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday while demanding a nationwide caste census, reported PTI.

Speaking at the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, Gandhi also stated that for Congress, a caste census is both a fundamental basis and a tool for policymaking.

“Like the Constitution, the caste census serves as a policy framework and guide for the Congress,” he said. “We cannot make policies in the reality of India without a caste census.”

The Congress leader also said the population excluded from the system has skills and knowledge, “but no connections [with the system]”.

“That is why we have raised the demand for a caste census,” said Gandhi, adding that it is essential to determine the numbers of various sections of the society to ensure their participation.

He stated that the Constitution is “there for all citizens, not just the 10%”.

“We want the data,” said Gandhi. “How many Dalits, OBC [Other Backward Classes], tribals, women, minorities, and general caste people are there. We are trying to protect the Constitution through this demand for a caste census.”

According to Gandhi, the Constitution is “protected by poor people, labourers, tribals and not [industrialist Gautam] Adani”. “If 90% of people do not have participatory rights, the Constitution cannot be protected.”

The Congress leader said that the Constitution is a protective shield for the poor, farmers and labourers. Without it, “the situation would be as it used to be earlier in the times of kings and emperors, who did whatever they wanted”, he said.

Gandhi also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to replicate the model of kings and emperors.

“You [Modi] consider yourself non-biological,” said the leader of Opposition. “You consider yourself connected with the god. Right after the [Lok Sabha] election, you had to bow down before the Constitution. This was not done by us but by people.”

Gandhi said that those who believe the “caste census” can be halted or the 50% cap on reservations cannot be lifted are “merely dreaming”.

“This will definitely happen,” he said. “It cannot be stopped. Neither the caste census nor an economic survey or an institutional survey can be prevented and the 50% barrier will also fall. All of these will happen.”

He also claimed that the people of the country were firmly in favour of a caste census.

“The order of the people has come,” he said. “The prime minister should accept it and implement it. If he does not do so, someone else will become the prime minister.”

Gandhi said it is his vision that it is known how much wealth is held by Other Backward Classes, Dalits and labourers. “What is the participation of these people in the institutions of India, be it the bureaucracy, the judiciary or the media?”

He also alleged that the prime minister waived loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of 25 people “but no Dalit, tribal or minority-community member was there on the list”.

‘Clarity on census’

Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks that the Census would be held “at an appropriate time and an announcement would be made when the time is decided”.

“The self-styled Chanakya has just dropped a bombshell,” Ramesh said in a post on X. “Yesterday, in Chhattisgarh, he let out a top secret. He said that the census will be carried out at an appropriate time and that an announcement will be made for it when it is decided. Wow. Such clarity on a census that has already been delayed for over 3 years! (sic)”

The last decennial Census exercise was held in 2011. In 2020, India was set to begin the first phase of the exercise – in which housing data is collected – but the coronavirus pandemic forced its postponement.

In July 2023, the Registrar General of India ordered that the Census would not be held until after the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The order did not specify can reason for further delay.

On Saturday, Shah said that the Centre “will make an announcement for it [Census] when it is decided", reported PTI.

Also read: Mapping land ownership as part of the caste census could uncover key patterns about power, resources